Ethernet switch

[Sulli123]

Hello, long term surfer of this site but new poster. Just looking for advice. I am looking at setting up a Ethernet switch to run the TV, sky q and Xbox series x because the WiFi doesn't seem to be getting the speeds hoped. Now I have read that the sky q box doesn't have a gigabit port on it and can only support something like 100Mb and I have seen that some people have had problems with this then bottlenecking everything plugged into the switch to the same slower speeds. Is this true or would I get each connected thing running at the max speed allowed by the gadget/internet speed depending on internet load at any given time.

I'm looking at a NETGEAR GS305 switch and a few cat7 Ethernet cables.

 

[bremen1874]

You don't need or want Cat7. A complete waste of time and probably junk if you're buying from somewhere like Amazon or eBay. Buy Cat5e (or Cat6 if you really must) which will fully support Gigabit.

Having a 100Mbps device connected to a Gigabit switch will not slow down other traffic that is Gigabit capable.

Compare the cost of 5 and 8 port switches. 8 port doesn't usually cost much more and the extra ports can come in useful.

 

[BowdonUK]

I think with a network switch, in my experience, is to buy more ports than you need. I've ran in to issues previously of running out of ports when I added more devices in the room. I'd get at least an 8 port. As for cables try and avoid Amazon, and especially eBay. I noticed the Overclockers store sells Cat5E and Cat6 cables, so I'd buy them through the site.

I think using a switch creates a mini star network. So all devices connected to the switch operate separately.

Switches are the easiest to get working. Plug in the power plug, and then you'll need an ethernet cable from the router to the switch, so it gets the Internet connection, then plug in ethernet cables from the switch to your different devices. Based on your OP you'll need 4 ethernet cables. 1 between the router and switch, 1 between the switch and your tv, 1 between the switch and your sky tv, and 1 between the switch and your xbox series x.

 

[Avalon]

Hello, long term surfer of this site but new poster. Just looking for advice. I am looking at setting up a Ethernet switch to run the TV, sky q and Xbox series x because the WiFi doesn't seem to be getting the speeds hoped. Now I have read that the sky q box doesn't have a gigabit port on it and can only support something like 100Mb and I have seen that some people have had problems with this then bottlenecking everything plugged into the switch to the same slower speeds. Is this true or would I get each connected thing running at the max speed allowed by the gadget/internet speed depending on internet load at any given time.

I'm looking at a NETGEAR GS305 switch and a few cat7 Ethernet cables.

I'd stop reading wherever you read that, that's not how a switch works, that's how a hub works and gigabit hubs aren't really a thing. You also don't need cat7, decent quality solid core copper for structured runs and stranded copper for patch leads in 5e is more than capable of gigabit and likely 10Gbe. You can literally buy the cheapest unmanaged gigabit switch you can find and it will perform almost identically to any other unmanaged gigabit switch.

 

[Duke]

As others have said get some decent CAT5e cables and an 8 port switch, something like a Netgear will be fine.

 

[Sulli123]

Thanks everyone for your answers, knew this would be the place to get people talking sense. Will probably end up buying an 8 port now and the cat 5e and try to find a decent 15 meter cable to get from the router to the area in question, shame Overclockers only do 10 or 20